23 Things Wrap-up. . .

This exercise has been one of the most substantive staff development projects I have been involved in while a teacher in the St. Paul Public Schools. . .I have been inundated with a variety of tools that I can continue to use in the coming days. . .It will take me a long time to absorb all of this information, but already with my blog, google.docs, son of citation, the assignment calculator, my life as a teacher has improved mightily. . .Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. . .drfaust

Thing 7: Get to Know the Research Project Calculator

The Research Project Calculator (RPC). . .For me I like the University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator. . .I have been introducing it to my students who are working on a Minnesota History project. . .I love the way it sets out the various steps of the project one by one in a narrative fashion. . .Students like the structure, when beginning. . .Once they master this tool, they can modify it any way that fits their style better. . .I t must be noted that this project calculator is designed for writing assignments which as a history teacher is another reason, I prefer to use it. . Clearly, the discipline and and structure involved in using this tool can be applied to a variety of projects, and can be modified, thusly. . .I will have a wrapup on my student's work with the U of M Assignment Caluclator in a later blog after they finish their project on June 4th. . .drfaust

Thing 4: Get to Know Your Public Library, Part II

Next task: check out the "MELSA" site (melsa.org). . .MELSA is the "Metropolitan Library Service Agency". . .MELSA was established in 1969 and serves as one of the twelve regional public library systems in Minnesota. . .The mission of MELSA is to "share resources and ideas, foster literacy, promote public library use, (and) prepare for the future.". . .The website provides loads of information about MELSA: 1. the address for the offices of MELSA in St. Paul (and a map); 2. the six staff members and how to contact them; 3. the Board of Trustees (one trustee from each of these seven metro counties--Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington, and one trustee representing the St. Paul public library); 4. the eight member Advisory Board (representing the same constituencies as the Board of Trustees). . .Any card-carrying member of one of MELSA's participating members can uses any of the resources of any of the participating libraries. . .MELSA is a classic example of what can happen when residents of neighboring municipalities shelve their parochial biases and work together to provide better service for our metropolitan area. . .One of my favorite parts of the MELSA website is the section for databases for public uses. . .My favorite databases are the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press archives, and the Newsbank Infoweb. . .drfaust

Thing 4: Get to Know Your Public Library, Part I

Public libraries are one of our most important public institutions, and have been from the days of ancient Alexandria to today's Library of Congress. . .I have fond memories from my earliest years of using the public library to sate my appetite for knowledge, information, and magic. . .The public library never lets me down--when it's open. . .Funding for our libraries continues to be a thorn in the side of all of us who call ourselves profesdional educators. . .As professionals and citizens we must demand that libraries operate year round with hours from the mornings to the evenings. . .The online services now available through libraries should not be viewed as a substitute for keeping the libraries open. . .We should not be shuttering libraries, but we should be building better and bigger libraries. . .Andrew Carnegie pledged his fortune to the construction of public libraries a century ago. . .Where are the Carnegies of the 21st century--both in the public and private sector. . .But in an era when school districts will not give more then lip service to the need for certified librarians in every school building, who can expect anything more than what we are getting: lots of talk, little action, and even less money. . .(I bet Baghdad's Green Zone has a world class library). . .For something to change, we as educators can no longer sit on the sidelines and allow the bureaucrats and political hacks to make policy about subjects of which they are hopelessly ignorant. . .We need to be the policymakers. . We know the problems. . .We know the solutions. . .Either we hang together or we hang separately. . .drfaust

Oops, the last post should be Thing 31. . .

My mistake. . .drfaust

Thing 23: Bibliographic Tools

One of my favorite discoveries this year is a citation machine called "Son of Citation." . . .I have used it successfully in my graduate classes at Hamline and have showed my students the wonders of "Son of Citation". . .This tool, or another like it, is essential in a day when someone like me teaches at a school that demands MLA citation form from its students, attends a graduate school that demands APA citation form from its students, and as a licensed attorney uses a completely different citation form for legal briefs. . .The best thing about "Son of Citation" is hearing an audible sigh when someone uses it successfully for the first time--an almost ecstatic sound. . .By the way, in a year when a thoroughbred is threatening to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978, one should always remember that Citation captured the Triple Crown in 1948. . .Trivia question: this year's Triple Crown contender is Big Brown. . .What is the derivation of his name?. . .drfaust. . .p.s. the answer to the trivia question: Big Brown refers to the corporate delivery titan--the United Parcel Service. . .

Thing 29: Online Learning

As an AP History teacher, I search high and low for online resources to help my students prepare for their big test in May. . .This year's test was May 9th, and one online site I checked out is "4tests: Your free, online, practice test site!". . .Here is what I think of "4test". . ."4test" was a disappointing site which provided one 29 question multiple choice practice test and included popup ads for all sorts of products (e.g. Netflix) and ads for prep materials like Cliff's Notes. . .Not recommended. . .Nest, I tried "DEN", the Digital Education Network located at "actden.com". . .The site contained online software tutorials for PowerPoint 2003, Front Page 2000, Internet Explore 5, etc. . .and online courses: TestDEN, WritingDEN. SkillsDEN, etc. . .I tried the SkillsDEN online course which was produced by Microsoft Skills 2000 and was subtitled "The Museum of Modern Technology" with virtual host, Ada Omega. . .It is a Microsoft site with the idea of promoting Microsoft products. . .The "online course" is an outdated course which would have been directed at middle or elementary school level students. . .Not recommended. . .Online learning, of course, seems to be the future of education. . .More and more students are learning online, and more educators are teaching online. . .I had an experience in two classes at Hamline during the spring term. . .The blogging was fun, and it was great that in one of the courses, most of the required reading material was available online--thus, easily accessible at anytime. . .The thing I don't like about online learning is when it serves as an excuse for teachers and students not to meet face to face. . .The absence of "in the flesh" interaction was a negative when my two courses substituted online sessions for four classes. . .In fairness to the instructors, they did not care for it either. . .However, it appears to be an inevitable juggernaut. . .Soon, why would an institution concern itself with where their instructors lived since they could merely offer the class online. . .Now, there are obvious situations where the online revolution is an absolute plus: disabled and homebound students, geographically-isolated students (e.g. Antarctica), and courses not offered at the student's institution. . .But, we should move carefully when considering online courses. . .They are not a panacea. . .drfaust

Thing 28: Photos and Images

As I have mentioned in past posts, I need to learn how to post photos and images on my website and blog. . .I guess I will have that as a summer project (btw, I plan to continue this blog). . .As a result, I checked out "flickr.com". . .As a webaphile I have encountered flickr images on a regular basis, but I did not know anything about the site. . .I took the tour. . .One of the concerns with using any "social" web-based network (e.g. MySpace, Flickr) is privacy, of course. . .It appears Flickr takes adequate steps to protect the privacy of users, and I have not heard of any horror stories involving Flickr. . .Flickr looks like a site which may be something I would consider participating in once I get the hang of photos and the web. . .drfaust

Thing 26: Digital Image Collections

Besides the University of Chicago, I searched for digital images at the University of Minnesota. . .At "digital.lib.umn.edu", I found the University of Minnesota Libraries Digital Collections. . .I found an interesting collection of World War I and World War II posters and postcards, "A Summons to Comradeship". . .When searching for materials from the African campaign of World War II, I found a great poster with a photograph of an Ethiopian soldier blowing a bugle with the slogan: "This man is your friend. He fights for freedom.". . .Few people know of Ethiopia's valiant fight against the invasion of Italian fascists prior to World War II and their resistance during the subsequent Italian occupation. . .Next, as a descendant of Norwegian immigrants, on the weekend of the annual celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day (May 17th), I checked out the collection for images dealing with the conquest and occupation of Norway by the Nazis during World War II. . .To no surprise, the collection had several outstanding examples of wartime posters and postcards depicting the plight of occupied Norway. . .One poster was for aid and bore the slogan: "Norway suffers! Norway Aid. Norwegian Relief, Inc.". . .Another titled "Norway Fights!" included photographs of the Norwegian army, navy, and air force (this poster was also created for Norwegian Relief, Inc.. . .Highly recommended. . .drfaust

Thing 25: Digital Map Collections

Digital Map Collections seem to be ubiquitous on the web. . .I checked out a few sites. . ."The American Memory" collection hosted by the Library of Congress is an excellent digital map repository for history teachers like me. . ."Railroad Maps: 1828-1900 is one of 11 collections at the website. . .I clicked on a 1866 railroad map of Alabama, which I would use to show how the lack of railroads hamstrung economic development in the post-Civil War south. . .Then I clicked on a map of railroads in Michigan at virtually the same time (1867)--the Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw Railroad. . .The map showed the extensive network of railroads in the post-Civil War midwest, which stimulated economic development. . .This digital map collection can be utilized to make an essential point in U.S. economic history. . .I found another digital map collection at a truly outstanding repository of digital information: "The University of Chicago Library--Digiatal Activities and Collections". . .At this site, I discovered a great collection of digital data on the Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 which included a collection of digital maps. This data was linked from "The American Memory Project of the Library of Congress. . .A plethora of information, with some amazing maps from the Revolutionary era. . .Highly recommended. . .Also, I took a sidetrack and went to the University of Chicago's "Archival Photofiles". . .As a fan of college football history, I searched for images of the legendary University of Chicago Maroons--a founding member of the Big Ten Conference, who deemphasized college football in 1939. . .Very few modern football fans know that the University of Chicago won or shared 7 Big Ten championships. . .Well, I was delighted to find a gameday photograph of their homefield, Stagg Field, in 1924--the last year the Maroons ruled the Big Ten. . .BTW, the first atomic chain reaction occurred under the grandstand of Stagg Field where much of the primary research of the Manhattan Project occurred as supervised by the Nobelist, Enrico Fermi. . .drfaust

Thing 21: YouTube and more

I had used YouTube regularly until our use was discontinued by the District after spring break. . .I have commented on my YouTube in earlier posts. . .As for Teacher Tube, I checked out the channel: The American Institute for History Education. . .My first Teacher Tube video was "The Transcontinental Railroad" . . .The production values are predictably low, but the history is topflight. . .Unfortunately, the narrator is very amateurish, which serves to detract from the video. . .Adequate for the task. . .Next, I tried out "The Global Economy". . .Even though the "Global Economy" concentrates on post-World War II events, like the Transcontinental Railroad video, it relies entirely on still photographs, and once again is hamstrung by the same boring narrator. . .However, like the previous video, the historical information is excellent. . .Next, I clicked on the video: "A Fair(y) Use Tale" produced in collaboration with the Stanford University Law School to show "Fair Use Law''--an outstanding video and is much more interesting than my PowerPoint presentation on the same issue. . .Highly recommended. . .Teacher Tube is a new and growing phenomenon which hopefully will prosper while YouTube continues to be blacklisted from most classrooms across the United States. . .At "Yahoo! for Teachers", I read an interview with Dale Basler, a science teacher at Appleton East High School (WI) who is President of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers. . .Mr. Basler talked enthusiastically about his use of "RSS feeds" and "podcasts" in his work. . .Linked to his interview is a great video entitled "RSS in Plain English" taken from the website "commoncraft.com". . .Essentially, it is a tutorial for constructing an RSS using "Google Reader". . .Highly recommended. . .Finally, Basler puts in a plug for "STEM". . .drfaust

Thing 16:MnLINK

Checking on MnLINK, I took several of the tutorials and then embarked on what, for me, tends to be very frustrating--a jpurney using old search functions. . .I tried an "advanced search" for a decades old novel co-authored by Larry McMurtry about the legendary Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. . .After many missteps, I finally arrived at my destination. . .The novel "Pretty Boy Floyd" is co-authored by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, and was published by Simon And Schuster in 1994, ISBN 0671891650. . .It is available at several MnLINK libraries. . .After viewing the successful result, I decided to try my search again. . .Previously, I was unaware that the name "Pretty Boy Floyd" could be used in the subject lines as "Pretty and "Boy" and "Floyd". . .When I tried that I found what I was looking for immediately. . .MnLINK is a great resource, once you figure out how the search function works. . .Btw, I highly recommend this novel. . .MnLINK is an excellent way for all readers to increase the material available to them, especially if you live in a large metropolitan area. . .drfaust

Thing 14: Reliable Online Resources

"Reliable Internet Resources"--a buzzphrase in today's academic circles (Is buzzphrase a "word"?--I better do a search!). . .The Constitution's First Amendment provides freedom of speech, explicitly, and freedom of expression, implicitly--but it does not restrict speech and expression to accuracy and reliability. . .Thus, people who post on the web do not have to provide information that is accurate and reliable. . .However, in contemporary academia, which is a reflection of enlightenment values, those two aforementioned concepts are the holy grail for researchers. . .The internet in 2008 is a cornucopia of information and misinformation, and educators and students must be careful to be able to glean the former from the latter in their search for that eternally elusive quarry--the truth. . .With in mind, I checked out "Librarians Internet Index: Websites You Can Trust". . .Under the topic, "Ready Reference and Quick Facts", I investigated the subtopic "statistics". . ."Statistics" should be the ultimate test for the reliability of a website. . .I found a site entitled "School Data Direct" which is "a place for educators, researchers, and policymakers to access information about public schools.". . .Under "Find State Information", I clicked "Minnesota". . .Immediately I was taken to a "State Overview" webpage which provided a link to the State Department of Education; a summary called "Minnesota Public Schools and Districts: Education Facts" with number of students (circa 2006), number of schools (circa 2006), number of school districts (circa 2006, and spending per pupil (circa 2005); graphs on stduent performance on mandated standardized tests (circa 2007), college entrance exams (circa 2005), estimated graduation rates (circa 2004), and more. . .The information appeared accurate, yet a little old, and did provide links to the site where the information was gathered. . .School Data Direct is a service of Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). . .CCSSO is a educational lobby located in Washington, D.C. which has been in business since 1927 in various forms. . .As an advocacy group for school administrators, etc., its stats should be viewed as data directed towards a specific goal of forwarding the goals of the organization. . .Does that mean they are not reliable or accurate? No, but they must viewed through the prism of legislative advocacy. . .Other sites involving statistics were corporate (boeing.com), government (census.gov), mainstream media (cnn.com), government/academic (usda.mannlib.cornell.edu). . .Overall, I would recommend, with qualification, this site as a fount of reliability. . .Next, I checked out the "Internet Public Library" (IPL) which started out as a class at the University of Michigan's School of Information. . .The IPL is now operated by a consortium of colleges and universities. . .The mangaing partners are the University of Michigan, Florida State Information, and Drexel (PA) University. . .At IPL I checked out the "Teen Space" page, which includes the following topics: Homework Help, A+ Writing, Graphic Novels Guide, Poetry Wiki, FAEQs, and Procrastinator. . .Clearly, I needed to check out "Proscrastinator". . .As that webpage I found a "Movies" section which featured "Internet Movie Database", "Rotten Tomatoes", "Cinescape". and "Film Wise"--all reliuable and accurate movie web sites. . .Their movies link sections included more resources--all excellent including the American Film Institute, the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, and more. . .The IPL's Teen Space is highly recommended along with the rest of the IPL. . .Also, I checked out the "Open Directory Project" (ODP) and its website "dmoz.org". . .Under the section "Kids and Teens" I clicked on the subsection entitle "School Time" and conducted a search for "AP U.S. History". . .I had 28 results. . The results were disappointing in that the search did not find the "College Board" website. . .However, it was a total loss and there were some AP prep results. . .Under the "Movies" subsection of the "Arts" section, I had no luck when searching for "War, Inc.". . ."DMOZ" is not recommended. . .That's all for now--drfaust. . .

Thing 12: Other Search Engines

Here are the results of checking out some "other search engines". . .I searched for information concerning the new satire on privatized war titled "War, Inc.". . ."War, Inc." is a film starring Joun Cusack, Hillary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Ben Kingsley, Dan Ackroyd et al, produced by Cusack and directed by Joshua Seftel (a documentarian making his feature film directorial debut), that satirizes a future conflict in the fictional Turaqistan, where all the fighting is done by private corporations. . .Enough of the plot summary--My first experiment was using the visual search engine "kart00". . .This engine utilizes Flash and features a genie that provides you with a lot of results for the search. . .Unfortunately, as nice as it looks, it was not something I would recommend to anyone else, as it has way too many flaws, and is definitely not friendly for the casual user. . .One would need a seminar to use "kart00". . .My next attempt, "Qunitura" led to a "Not Found--Error 404" page. . .When I tried to search "War, Inc." on "Music Plasma" (it does have a movie option), I received a lot of information about a 2001 movie called "Monsters, Inc."--a movie which has no connection of any type to my search. . .A total bust. . .Next, I tried "Dog Pile". . .Success!. . .A Meta Search engine, Dog Pile presented a comprehensive list of results--the first result was the official site for the movie, followed by International Movie Database (imdb.com) which is the #1 movie site on the web--Dog Pile is highly recommended. . .As for the other Meta Search engine--"Clusty"--the results were adequate, but not as successful as "Dog Pile". . .Too many results not pertaining to the movie, were "clustered" (lol) in with the movie results. . .In summary, avoid visual search engines, and check out "dogpile.com"--an outstanding Meta Search engine. . .drfaust

Thing 17: Fair Use

This past year I was enrolled in a class at Hamline University called "Education Law'. . .The instructor was Thomas Coughlin, a long-time administrator for the Lakeville Public School. . .For a group presentation and a written term paper, I investigated the law surrounding the "fair use" exception to the use of copyrighted materials as it relates to educators. . .Among other things, I discovered many public educational institutions that publish very helpful guides to "fair use" and education. For example, the University of Minnesota Libraries publishes on their website their "General Principles of Fair Use in Education" as a guiding policy for the University Libraries. Their simple, but effective, policy statement serves as a model for any school or school district seeking a written policy for this important area. . .Also, several institutions supplement their policy statement with a "fair use checklist" for staff and students to utilize when conducting an examination to determine if a particular use of copyrighted material is fair, and thus exempt from copyright law limitations. For example, the Copyright Management Center at Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis (more typically known by the acronym "IUPUI") has produced a simple and user-friendly checklist for staff and students. . .I believe every school should have a similar checklist available to all staff and students to prevent possible legal challenges to the use of copyrighted material. . .I have spoken with my building principal about making a staff development presentation concerning "fair use" next August priot to the beginning of classes. . .If anyone would like a copy of my PowerPoint presentation and/or paper concerning "fair use" feel free to contact me and I will be happy to forward the materail to you. . .drfaust

drfaust meets mili

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What's up with YouTube?

What's up with YouTube? It's been unavailable for the last two school days. drfaust

Google Alert Followup Pt. II

Google Alerts strike again. I'm taking some classwork at Hamline this spring. In my Education Law course, one of the assignments is a group presentation. I informed my colleagues, who were about to do research on our topic, to try out Google Alerts. They did, and thanked me (by extension MILP) for turning them on to Google Alerts, which is providing daily assistance for their research. Thanks to MILP, I became aware of the wonders of Google Alerts. drfaust

NCLB and the State Legislature

During spring break, two Republican state senators, Michel of Edina and Hann of Eden Prairie, held a press conference to announce their support for pulling Minnesota out of NCLB. They commented that support for this action is bipartisan at the state capitol. In Washington, reauthorization of NCLB has stalled in Congress as a similar bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats are demanding significant reform, 100% funding, or abolition. After learned of the comments of Senators Michel and Hann, I contacted my state senator, Linda Higgins, DFL-Mineeapolis, and the state senator who represents my school, Ellen Anerson, DFL-St. Paul (as well as Senators Michel and Hann). No response as of today. If you're concerned with the issue of NCLB, drop me a line. drfaust

Minnesota State Constitution and Education

Referring to some comments I made at our last meeting concerning the relationship of our state constitution and public education, here is the relevant text of the constitution:
ARTICLE XIII. MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. Section 1. Uniform system of public schools. The stability of a republican
form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to estab-
lish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or other-
wise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.
As for library funding, it appears to me that a library is essential to ". . .a thorough and efficient system of public schools. . ."
Furthermore, a ". . .uniform system of public schools. . ." should demand that library funding be the same throughout the state, so as to ensure that every public school has library facilities and staff not significantly worse than library facilities
and staff in any other similar public school. If the funding system employed by the state leads to a situation where some schools are without a certified librarian, that system would violate the Minnesota State Constitution. drfaust.

Dr. Faust loves google.doc

Google Docs is conquering the world. . .Microsoft is running scared. . .As Zeus gazes down from cloud-shrouded Mount Olympus, is he pleased with the Promethean gamble that Google has taken in its titanic struggle with Microsoft, ruler of the underworld? Details at 10! drfaust

Musings of Dr. Faust on a dreary afternoon, while contemplating the Ides of March. Et tu? Four score and seven minutes ago, Dr. Faust and Mr. Mark were arriving from Arlington, and preparing to address the latest trends in internet literacy. This project can neither be hallowed nor consecrated, yet promotes internet literacy of the people, by the people, and for the people.

EFF, Illegal Wiretapping, Google "docs" and you

As I finish my second cup of coffee, I begin to ruminate on yesterday's passel of "big news'. . .Lost in the shuffle of the "Potomac Primaries" and the seeming inevitability of a November race for President between Senators McCain and Obama, was the vote in the United States Senate to immunize telecoms from legal responsibility for the felonious activity they participated in during their felonious dalliance with the federal government's illegal wiretapping program (btw--started well before the attacks of 9/11). . .This troubling event sends a warning to every American concerned about electronic privacy. . .For those of you interested in this area, I recommend checking out the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org). . .Recently, EFF decided to participate in a very important lawsuit that has ramifications for all of us who have a laptop and travel with it. . .A man who was fed up with the invasive search of his laptop everytime he traveled by air filed a lawsuit alleging an ongoing breach of his 4th Amendment rights--btw, the phrase "probable cause" is still included in the text of the 4th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution. . .Now how does "Google docs" fit in. . .Well, the people at Google, who have laptops and travel with them, have produced something which allows one to avoid the aforementioned problem. . .With "Google docs" you don't need to travel with a laptop, you just store your work with "Google docs" and when you arrive at your appointed destination, find an internet connection (at your hotel, at the airport, etc, etc, etc.), login, and you're back to work (does Google protect the privacy of your stored work product?--we will see). . .Pretty neat, huh?. . .Well, Google thinks it's neat enough that this is a major part of its tactics to knock Microsoft off of the technology pinnacle. . .Now you understand why Microsoft is attempting to purchase Yahoo!. . .Stay tuned. . .drfaust

Declining Enrollment and Charter Schools

Just finished reading the superintendent's missive concerning the budget shortfall vis a vis declining enrollment. . .I've been in the district for fifteen years. . .During that period I've watched our district dance with the charter school movement. . .Now fifteen years later we are reaping the fruits of our missteps. . .If you are not aware of the following statistic, you should be: St. Paul, Minnesota has a higher percentage of students enrolled in charter schools (about 13-14%) than any other city in the United States. . .Of course, we have declining enrollment and a resulting multimillion dollar budget shortfall--add even 1/2 of those charter school students to the rolls of the St. Paul Public Schools, and our budget shortfall shrinks to a manageable number. . .Why the alleged leaders of St. Paul continue to offer support to a movement that continues to gut our school district remains a mystery to me--or does it?. . .Ask yourself this question: what has the Humphrey Institute, for example, done for you lately?. . .Is it truly an organization interested in the continued viability of the St. Paul Public Schools, or does it operate as a veritable "Trojan Horse" within our midst, with its real goal the continued support of alternative educational institutions to the point where our District is reduced in size to the point of irrelevance. . .Think of anti-government activist Grover Norquist's notorious quote: "We will shrink government to the size where it can be drowned in a bathtub.". . .Naivete allowed the charter school movement to be viewed as a symbiotic partner with our district, when it fact it operates in a parasitic fashion sucking the very lifeblood (students) from the host until inevitable death occurs. . .To be continued. . .drfaust

Campaign Results

If you want an easy way to transmit tonight's to students tomorrow, go to Yahoo's excellent "Political Dashboard" site. . .At Political Dashboard you can show tonight's results for the Democratic and Republican primaries in the Chesapeake--Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. . .I've been using the site in my classes during the campaign and it is very easy for the students to see the results and basic demographic breakdown of the voting. . .The "Election 2008" site (CNN) is superior in that it os more detailed. . .For example, CNN breaks down the results by either county or Congressional Districts, but its graphic presentation is inferior. . .For a quick summary, I recommend "Political Dashboard"; for a more detailed look at the results use "Election 2008". . .For all you cheeseheads: Wisconsin decides next Tuesday--the land of the Progressive tradition (see: Fighting Bob LaFollette) and the birthplace of the GOP: Ripon, Wisconsin (1854). . .drfaust

Signing in and the Election

It's seems I'm not alone in being unable to sign in to "blogger.com" while I'm on the SPPS server. . .So, for the near future, it appears I will have to blog from home. . .Hopefully we can solve this problem. . .As I watch the replay of last night's Presidential debates, I am reminded how important citizen participation is to our system of representative democracy. . .Take time to attend your precinct caucus on Tuesday, February 5th. . .It's important. . .NCLB is gathering more and more attention from candidates at the national and local levels, respectfully. . .On Saturday morning, I attended a meet and greet with Senatorial candidate Mike Ciresi in my downtown Mpls neighborhood. . .I asked him pointblank what would he do with NCLB--His answer? "Scrap it!" . . .Recently, important members of the Republican legislature, as well as the Governor, have talked about pulling our state out of NCLB. . .Whatever your feeling may be on this issue, the polity needs to hear from you. . .Take some time off on Tuesday Feb. 5th to attend your precinct caucus. . .I will have to miss almost all of my first class of a graduate class that evening. . .In both the long run, and the short run, this year's election holds massive implications for our profession. . .If you would like your students to hear from the winners in the Iowa caucus, last Thursday, both speeches are available, in their entirety on YouTube--just search for "Barack Obama Iowa Caucus Victory Speech" and "Mike Huckabee Iowa Caucus Victory Speech". . .The Obama speech runs almost thirteen minutes and the Huckabee speech clocks in at about ten minutes. . .drfaust

Iowa caucuses

Good morning. . .What a historical night in Iowa!. . .For those of you who feel the urge to show your students what happened in Iowa last night, www.c-span.org has the post-caucus speeches of last night's big five: Obama, Edwards, Clinton, Huckabee, and Romney. . .Remember, the New Hampshire primary is next Tuesday, January 8th. . .During an election year, C-Span is an invaluable aid. . .Btw, Erik Erickson of Como Park took 27 students to Mason City, Iowa yesterday (Cerro Gordo county for those of us who have done time in Iowa--lol)--see yesterday's Pioneer Press. . .I just want to remind this crew that Minnesota has precinct caucuses on Tuesday, February 5th. . .You don't have to cross state lines to observe, or participate in, the caucus phenomenon. . .Why someone felt the need to drive south on I-35 for anything more than a pork tenderloin sandwich is beyond me. . .Remember, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the caucus hill. . .drfaust

Google Alert Followup

Well, I said that I would inform if Google Alert works. I signed up for one alert daily concerning copyright law and I received my first alert this morning (01/03/08) with twelve articles running the gamut from RIAA and copyright, IPods and copyright, and German copyright law. What an outstanding service! I need to reiterate the importance of what is occurring in copyright law, not just here in the U.S., but all over the world. Stay tuned. drfaust

Thing 13. Subscription Databases

I have distributed handouts to my students listing all the Online Learning Resources that we offer at the SPPS website. Also, they have the passwords and usernames for student access. Second semester will illustrate how well they have learned to use these resources. After the AP U.S. History exam in early May, my AP students will be doing a Minnesota History research project. The after-test period is always problematic for AP students, because the tendency to believe the class is over. As for the specific resources, the Minnesota Reflections site maintained by the Minnesota Digital Library will be the foundation of the research project. It is a fantastic site and very user-friendly. I am already using ABC CLIO in my AP class. The Gale Virtual Reference Library will be helpful in my students' research projects in the latter part of the second semester. United Streaming is a natural for my work, although I do not believe there are videos concerning Minnesota History. Right now, I am considering using CNN Student News as a regular morning newscast for my classes. I was a fan of Channel 1. No, I did not agree with commercials, but they did some very good journalism. I can remember Lisa Ling doing a multi-part series on her travels within Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The students liked the news, and I was aware that in most cases, it would be the only news show they would watch each day. Hopefully, the quality of CNN Student News will be of a caliber that interests my students. I would like to use the Smithsonian Education site and show it to my students, but I am having a heckuva time dealing with search function. Anybody having success with the Smithsonian search engine? The Electronic Library of Minnesota, or ELM, is an outstanding site. I just need a library card--New Year's Resolution #2. I need much more work with databases--this blog is merely a starting point. drfaust

How to put pictures on my blog page, etc.

I have noticed that many of you have posted pictures, etc. on your blog page and I would like to find out how to do it. Also, is it possible to post links on the blog page? I'm sure it is, but I have no clue how I would go about doing it. Thanks. drfaust

Thing 11. All About Google

Btw, the link to Google features on the MILI site is dead. I had to access the Google features throught he Google home page. I first checked out the "book Search" feature and searched "books about minnesota". The search returned over two million items. I clicked on a Library of Congress web site and discovered "The Learning Page: collection conections" and found a collection of 138 digitized books in "Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin ca. 1820-1910. There are three sections in the collection: U.S. History, Critical Thinking, and Arts & Humanities. What a treasure trove of resources! The calculator feature is a nice touch that a social studies teacher like me will utilize on a regular basis. Pretty depressing checking out the currency conversion feature. Why? Today, one U.S. dollar is worth .68 euro. Smart investors have been buying euros for several years, and European vacations are becoming prohibitively expensive. The definitions feature is great for all learners, teachers and students, alike. The file type feature aids one in finding documents in a specific form, e.g. pdf files. As a semi-retired disc jockey I used the product search for "technics turntables". The first site was for Dinkytown's legendary "The Needle Doctor"--a turntable, etc. shop without peer in the upper midwest, if not the world. I used the Googel groups feature to search for some arcane items--Minneapolis Laker memorabilia. To my pleasant surprise the search uncovered over eight hundred sites. The I'm feeling lucky feature took me directly to the website of my alma mater, Grinnell College. Very nice. The image search feature oncovered more than two million sites for the object of my query: Iraq War pictures. Btw, the first site had a totally gruesome picture of a casualty, so be careful! The local search feature was another winner, as the object of my search was my old home Chicago and "italian beef sandwiches". The first restaurant mentioned in the search is arguably the home of the best Chicago-style italian beef--Al's #1 in the Little Italy neighborhood on Chicago's near west side. The movie search feature is another nice touch. I used the music search for a friend's band, the Dillinger Four. The first site was the band's home page. For the news headlines feature I entered "Iowa caucuses" and was taken to over six hundred thousand sites. Wow! The first article was a brief history of the Iowa caucuses recently published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (the paper of record in the deep south). Another nice feature is Q&A. My query was the population of Brazil and within 0.2 seconds, I found a site that said as of June 2006, Brazil's population was 201,765, 543. If you wanted to avoid Wikipedia, the third site was the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Their population estimate was more than almost twenty thousand less--185,308,371 as of January 2, 2008. Interesting anomaly. I was already familiar with the refine your search feature. Very useful. I am not a big fan of the prefetching feature and I have disabled this feature on my home browser. I do not care for something that assumes it knows exactly where I want to go after I have typed two or three letters into the search box. Search by number is useful, but I tend to search for USPS packages, for example, at the USPS site. For the site search feature, I queried the admission site for www.hamline.edu amd was taken immediately to the site. Very nice. The street map feature took me to a thumbnail map of my home address, immediately. The travel and weather features are very useful for travelers. All in all, the extra Google features are very helpful and I am glad I am aware of all of them. Next, I checked out some of the special search features from Google. I used the U.S. Government special search for copyright and was taken immediately to the U.S. Copyright Office. Very useful. I have created a Google Alert for "copyright law" and will report back tomorrow afternoon to see how it worked. I used the book search feature to find books concerning the Minneapolis Lakers (I am a collector of Mpls Lakers books) and I found a book that never knew existed. Wow! There are three copies of the book in the Twin Cities--the Minneapolis Public Library, the St. Paul Public Library, and Minnesota Historical Society (thank you Google!). I need to work more with Google Scholar--more specific search terms. My initial attempts to use this feature were unacceptable. I mentioned Google Docs in an earlier post and will let those comments suffice for now. Yes, I do love Google and these new discoveries have opened a whole new search world for me. drfaust

Happy New Year!

It's been a long day of blogging. . .Time to relax and watch the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii. . .peace out. . .drfaust

Using the projector

Here's an idea for those you who do not want to clutter your walls with standards and benchmark posters. I am thinking of a Como Park geography teacher's room that I worked in during a breakout session at a geography workshop a couple of years ago that included all these wonderful items covering the walls of his room--flags, maps, photographs, collages, etc. I shudder to think what it would look like with all the various state geography standards and benchmarks plastered across the Iberian peninsula or the flag of Jamaica. Here's the solution: create a Power Point production of, for example, U.S. History and the 30 state standards and 57 state benchmarks and then project that standard and/or benchmark(s) at the appropriate time(s). I cleared it with my principal at Arlington and I do not see why you could not do the same at any other building. drfaust

Thing 10. Copyright and Plagiarism (Part II)

This will be an ongoing discussion because of the recent developments concerning the abuse of copyright by large corporate entities (e.g. Microsoft and its 1998 antitrust litigation, Disney and its wish to extend copyright protections forever, Diebold and its desire to keep the secrets of its defective electronic voting machines somehow protected as intellectual property). Therefore, as citizens and professional educators we need to stand guard like sentinels protecting the public interest as well as the creators of art, etc., and prevent one side from dominating the other, as is the case, presently. As teachers and SLMSs, we deal with copyright on a daily basis. The material in Thing 10 concerning information of the related topics of copyright and plagiarism is, for the most part, very good. I must note, preliminarily, the the U.S. Copyright Office (as presented by the Library of Congress) is generically satisfactory and comprehensive. However, it must be observed that during the controversy over the extension of copyright protection concerning the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1998, the Copyright Office too often took an advocacy position concerning the legislation. The office should remain neutral. Btw, if anyone ever wondered why Hollywood loves Bill Clinton so much, the Bono Act of '98 should provide ample evidence of why they do. The Bono Act extended copyright protection by 20 years, both prospectively and retrospectively. The only people testifying before the U.S. Congress on behalf of this extension were those who stood to benefit in a fiduciary manner from the legislation. All legal scholars who testified opposed the legislation as a violation of the words and spirit of the Constitution. Yes, that's right, the Constitution provides the backdrop for all discussions of copyright and patents. The founders saw fit to give the Congress the sole power ". . .(t)o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for LIMITED (emphasis provided not, by Madison, but by drfaust) Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. . ." U.S. Cons., Art. I, Sec. 8, para. 8. Over the years the Supreme Court has interpreted this paragraph to mean that the "immediate effect of our copyright law is to secure a fair return for an 'author's' creative labor. But the ULTIMATE aim is, by this incentive, to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good." Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken, 422 U.S. 151, 156 (1975). Unfortunately, the recent change of direction at the Congressional level hampers teachers and SLMSs as these forces seek to virtually eliminate any further "in the Public Domain" (no more public domain motion pictures, for example). So while we teachers and SLMSs virtuously follow the law of copyright and fair use as it applies to our respective professions, we must also enter the public arena and monitor these unfortunate developments in copyright law. For further information, the following article is an excellent primer on the Bono Act. "Extending Copyright and the Constitution: 'Have I Stayed Too Long?'", by Michael H. Davis, of the Cleveland State University School of Law, which can be referenced at the web site for the "Social Science Research Network" (papers.ssrn.com). As for other materials mentioned in Thing 10, I highly recommend the "Copyright & Fair Use" page at the web site for the Stanford University Libraries (fairuse.stanford.edu). The section on coopyright FAQS is outstanding as well as the sections on "fair use", "public domain", and "releases." Also, the site links to an outstanding not-for-profit legal organization NOLO (www.nolo.com). Finally, the web page maintained by Carol Holzberg from the University of Maryland University College is very good and compares well with the Stanford web page. It can be found at (www.techlearning.com). Btw, that wonderful Nicholas Brothers clip I played for my students in my classroom, was only available because it is in the Public Domain. drfaust

Thing 15. Collaboration

Just to follow up on an earlier post, I plan to collaborate a fellow MILI participant, Mark Anderson, Arlington's faculty technology advisor. The Criminal Justice Power Point Research project will take place in his lab, and I will rely on Mark's Power Point expertise during the project while I handle the research component of the project. As for the readings in Thing 15: Collaboration, I could not agree more with the spirit of the article from "Teacher Librarian" entitled: "Collaboration: Where does it begin?" by Ruth Small. Ms. Small accurately describes the divide between the teaching faculty and librarian/media specialists that exist in most schools. I believe one of the most important reasons for that divide is the fact that most teachers do not consider librarians/media specialists as fellow "teachers". It is patently obvious from this program that teachers have so much to learn from our colleagues in the library. Clearly, these colleagues should be used in collaborative activities. However, only a small minority could work collaboratively with librarians for any significant period of time because there are scores of teachers and one or two librarians in each building. What's the answer to that dilemma? At least three librarian/media specialists in each high school. I omit middle schools and elementary schools because of my ignorance of their needs vis a vis numbers of librarians. In the second reading, "Collaboration and Reflection: Proactivity and Reflection: Tools to Imporove Collaborative Experiences" by Doug Johnson (www.doug-johnson.com), the author speaking from the meida specialist position supports Small's premise, but provides strategies for gradually erasing that division. To his credit, Johnson emphasizes the necessity for relflection as a proactive tool to imcrease collaboration. Johnson, as have many others, correctly identifies the main obstacle to collaboration as the fact that most teachers prize their independent status to the point where if blocks collaboration between them and other colleagues in the building. I was quite interested in the third reading: "Toward a Theory of Collaboration for Teachers and Librarians" by Patricia Montiel-Overall of the University of Arizona as published in the School library Media Research section of the American Library Association (vol. 8, 2005). Why the special interest? Montiel-Overall comes from the perspective of a social constructivist (a student of Dewey and Vygotsky, et al). Social constructivism relies on collaboration as a foundation for learning. Social constructivists argue that without true collaboration true learning and teaching will not occur and that the losers will be the typically underserved members of society. This progressive notion of learning/teaching is over a century old and traces its roots to the pedagogy of Dewey and Montessori and the psychology of Piaget and Vygotsky. In this area, those of us who have studied in recent years at the Hamline University Graduate School of Education recognize the theory as espoused by Montiel-Overall. Most importantly, to the purposes of this MILI program which is collaborative as a premise is the argument, as noted by Montiel-Overall, that collaboration has been identified as one of the factors that contribute to improved research skills (and) this positive effect is one of the primary reasons collaboration is promoted (citations omitted). Collaboration is the buzzword at this moment in time in St. Paul. The question remains, as Johnson notes, will we take the time to actively reflect upon our activities. If not, I would say, the chances of long-term success are limited. Before turning to the fourth piece, I would note that Montiel-Overall makes a strong case for collaboration as essential to true integration of content and information literacy standards, as well as integrated instruction and integrated curriculum, in general. In short, this reading is highly recommended. As for the fourth reading "A Rubric for Collaboration", I will have to wait to comment on it until I use my laptop that has "Word". The blog prompts ask three questions. First of all, what do you see as barriers to collaboration? Time and space. . .conflicting responsibilities. . .lack of technological resources--we need a technology Marshall Plan for the public schools. . .lack of ongoing reflective activities. . .and, of course, failure of significant members of the faculty to buy into true collaboration. . .The second question is: How can the barriers be overcome?. . .more prep time devoted to collaboration. . .more SLMSs (School Library Media Specialists--I like that acronym). . .a technology Marshall plan. . .Finally, the third question: Is collaboration worth it?. . .(btw is that a rhetorical question?). . .Of course it is, We cannot survive as a group of independent contractors. . .Successful institutions are collaborative, successful teams are collaborative, successful relationships are collaborative--the list is infinite. . .However, when one's time to take care of one's personal responsibilities increases while the time to take care of professional responsibilities decreases, it becomes problematic. Without radical change to the working conditions of the teaching profession these essential collaborative activities will not have the necessary time to germinate and bloom. drfaust

Thing 10. Copyright and Plagiarism (Part I)

Just a quick note: I cannot seem to access the two copyright quizzes. It seems the links are dead. Anybody know the answer. t/y drfaust

Thing 9. Streaming Video (Part I)

This is just a preliminary comment concerning the use of video in the classroom. I have used video ever since I have had access to video equipment. When used properly and appropriately it almost never fails to enhance and improve the lesson. Our students come from a video age. Failure to recognize this fact can be fatal to connecting with students. Many of my colleagues recoil at the fact that so many of our students spend so much time in front of a video screen, be it television, computer monitors, or an XBox. This is not going to change. In fact, that horse left the barn when Thomas Alva Edison and the Lumiere brothers (France) produced those first memorable motion pictures in the late 19th century (btw, YouTube possesses some great portions of early motion pictures by the aforementioned pioneers). Thus, all of us need to take a deep breath and deal with this fact. My seventy-six year old mother (still working and a lifelong educator) spent many hours every week at the theater in a small rural Minnesota community as a child in the 30s and the 40s. I would attest to the fact that this early exposure to motion pictures has not stunted her intellectual growth. Now, the question for we educators is to steer our students to quality video, television, etc., rather than rant about the "soul-deadening nature of modern popular culture." That argument has failed for over one hundred years now. Are there vulgar, profane, and obscene representations? Of course. Are there beautiful, poetic, and life-affirming representations? Of course. Our job as educated elders is to guide our students to these pieces of art. Our projectors allow us to open up this wonderful world to our charges. By the way, just before the holiday break I found two ecstatic pieces from the greatest tap-dancers in history, the legendary Nicholas Brothers (found on YouTube--an excerpt from the great musical "Stormy Weather" (1943) starring Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Fats Waller, and other luminaries too numerous to mention). I showed these clips to a class full of kids who live and breathe hip-hop. Their reaction? Awe and wonderment. Thanks, YouTube! drfaust
p.s. you government and history teachers, don't forget c-span!

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

While assaying some of the "Content Area Informational Literacy Lessons" exemplars compiled by Metronet, I noticed a few things I would like to briefly discuss. As a social studies teacher, I accessed the U.S. History lesson entitled "Interactive Research: A Time Period in American History' created by Walter A. Freeman of the Nashua (NH-?) School District. The lesson is a very nice lesson, but I believe appropriate only for very high achieving students (AP or IB) with excellent technology skills. By the way, the lesson is found at the "Apple Learning Interchange 2007" website. Under the lesson's "Tools and Resources: Internet" section, I found two excellent articles by Robert Harris from "VirtualSalt" ("www.virtualsalt.com"). The first is "Evaluating Internet Research Sources" which again should probably be limited to very high level students. The second is an excellent guide for teachers titled "Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers." Unfortunately some of the other links that Freeman provides are no longer functional. These are located on the "Plagiarism Theme Page". However, an outstanding link concerning copyright is functioning. The link is "10 Big Myths About Copyright" by Brad Templeton (www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html). This is a nice handout for students and something all teachers should keep handy in their office and classroom. Also, I investigated the Government/Citizenship lesson. The lesson is "Get It on the Ballot!" and concerns election ballot referrenda and initiatives (excellent for a lesson on direct democracy). It is found at the PBS web site (www.pbs.org). This lesson can be utilized by a wider variety of students than the History lesson. However, I must make some comments about the "Online Resources" section. There are four online resources listed. Two of the four, the"Ballot Initiative Strategy Center" (www.ballot.org), and "Fair Vote: The Center for Voting and Democracy" (www.fairvote.org) are "progressive" (left of center) advocacy groups. Thus, to present balance for the lesson, a teacher should search for "conservative" (right of center) groups. The other two resources are excellent and objective: the "Institute & Referendum Institute" at the University of Southern California (www.iandrinstitute.org/ballotwatch.htm) and the Federal Elections Commission (www.fec.gov). drfaust

Thing 6. Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator

Upon the end of the break on Wednesday, I will be conducting a pilot project with my second hour Criminal Justice class in which they will create a power point production of an issue of their choice concerning Criminal Justice (e.g. sentencing, capital punishment, juvenile justice, racial profiling, state and federal drug policy, DUI policy, alternatives to incarceration, electronic privacy, interrogation and torture, etc.). The easiest part of teaching research for me is helping a student find a topic of interest that is relevant to the content we are studying. The most difficult challenge will be motivating the students to work in an efficient manner with the time limit, which in this case will be ten class periods from start to finish. Also, the ability to convert their research into a Power Point production will be difficult. The RPC Teacher Guide will help me in a variety of ways in this journey with this particular class. The Support Materials are outstanding. I will use several for this project. As for Step 1: QUESTION, my students will receive three items. First, the "Minnesota 5 Student Research Planning Guide". . .Second, the "Narrowing a topic using a general to specific triangle" planning aid. . .Third, the "What is research?" poster. As for Step 2: GATHER, my students will receive two items, First, the "Improve your Google search tip sheet". . .Second, the "10 Qs for evaulating web sites" student aid. . .As for Step 3: CONCLUDE, my students will receive the "Outline organizer". . .As for Step 4: COMMUNICATE, my students will receive three items. First, the "Useful Transitions Tip Sheet". Second, the "keyhole Essay tip sheet. Third, the "Storyboard" (for oral presentations with electronic slides. As for Step 5: EVALUATION, my students will receive one item--the "Grading Rubric for the research process". . .I will keep you informed as to my group's progress. drfaust

Thing 5. Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

My New Year's Resolution vis a vis teaching is to maintain an up-to-date teacher web page. So far, my web page is rudimentary and does not yet contain anything that will be of any real use to students, parents, or colleagues. other than my basic contact information. I am planning to feature a video on a weekly (at least) basis concerning relevant current events and/or historical events. As of yet, I am having difficulty figuring out how to use Urban Planet to link up videos to my site. Also, I would like to feature, again on at least a weekly basis, an article or essay concerning either relevant current events and/or historical events. Again, my ability to establish links is lacking. Also, my website will contain the weekly schedule for my various classes. Finally, as a history teacher, my website will contain the state standards for United States History. My recommendations for teachers attempting to set up a website is to find someone experienced in setting up websites, tellling them exactly what items you want on your website, and then work with that person for several hours until you feel comfortable doing the work yourself--otherwise, hire a webmaster (lol). . .drfaust